WO1997/040342A2 describes a laser scanner for capturing an object at an arbitrary distance in three dimensions. The laser scanner has a laser source for generating laser light and a laser detector for receiving laser light from the laser source. Generated laser light emerges from the laser scanner at an exit point and is scattered by the object and reenters the laser scanner at an entry point. The laser scanner has rotational drives for rotating mirrors with two degrees of freedom about two mutually orthogonal axes and pickups for establishing this rotation. By rotating the mirrors, laser light scans over a multiplicity of scattering points of the object. The laser source, the laser detector and the pickups emit state signals. The laser scanner has an evaluation unit for evaluating the state signals. Evaluating the pulse run-time of the scattered laser light provides distance values between the laser scanner and the scattering points of the object. The laser scanner can be positioned on a stand at the object and is fed electric current by an electrical power supply unit. The field of view of the laser scanner is 40°×40°. For individual measurements over a distance of from 1 to 50 m, the positional accuracy is +/−6 mm and the path accuracy is +/−4 mm. The scanning speed of the rotational drives is 1000 to 5000 points/second.
Such a laser scanner was distributed by the applicant under the name HDS2500; its currently distributed successor is denoted by HDS3000. In the HDS3000, the field of view, being 360°×270°, is significantly larger; the positional accuracy and the path accuracy of the distance values stayed the same. The scanning speed of the rotational drives is 5000 points/second in the vertical direction and 20 000 points/second in the horizontal direction. The HDS3000 has a mass of 16 kg; its spatial dimensions are 27×37×51 cm3 (both specifications relate to the HDS3000 without evaluation unit, without electrical power supply unit and without stand).
Further details in respect of the design of a laser scanner are disclosed in WO2008/019856A1. This laser scanner has a rotational body, which is rotatably mounted about a rotor by means of a first rotational shaft; the rotor in turn is rotatably mounted on a stator by means of a second rotational shaft. A first rotational drive drives the rotational body and a second rotational drive drives the rotor. Arranged in the rotor are the first rotational drive, the laser source and the laser detector. Arranged on the rotational body are the exit point, the entry point and mirrors. Laser light originating from the laser source in the rotor is guided by means of an optical transmission connection to the rotational body and, from there, to the exit point via mirrors. Laser light scattered by the object enters the rotational body at the entry point and is guided to the laser detector in the rotor via mirrors and an optical reception connection. The optical transmission connection and the optical reception connection are optical transmission elements which are assigned to the rotor and the rotational body and which are decoupled from the rotation.